QSI 583 Review

[Paul Haese]

Hi all,

I decided to do a review of the QSI 583 which I bought in 2009. I think it is reasonably comprehensive and I hope people will see it to be unbiased.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/QSI583.html)for review.

Feel free to make whatever comments you consider relevant. Tell me if you agree or not. I am more than happy to answer questions for people considering buying this camera too.

[pvelez]

A good review Paul. Thanks for posting

I found the acrylic disk slotted between the Orion SSAQ and camera did the trick for focussing the guide camera. It is significantly cheaper too.

Pete

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Pete. I considered putting this fact into the review but given I had not used the focusing lens I thought it better not to include it. Perhaps I should put it just to notify others of this as an alternative.

[allan gould]

Nice one Paul. Agree with every aspect of your review but Ill be hanging onto mine for quite a while as it does all I want and more.

[DavidTrap]

A fair review. The new firmware on mine allows 4x4 binning, which is great for framing and focusing - I think you can upgrade yours Paul?

I also used the acrylic disc for focusing with the SSAG. I had difficult getting guide stars at long focal lengths with the SSAG, so have upgraded to the Lodestar. I wonder if the acrylic disc had any effect on intensity of guidestars - maybe the 5mm spacer is the better way to go.

DT

[gregbradley]

Great review Paul.

One point you touch on is weight.
How much does it weigh?

If its light that is a big plus as well as a separate off axis guider and filter wheel would weigh a lot more and weight in the imaging train is a serious problem for many modern scopes.

Greg.

[leinad]

Quite to the point, but some more details would be good. Didnt really spot any flaws you mentioned that QSI have addressed, besides improving temp delta cooling and frame download time? Perhaps elaborate there further.

683 and 583 only have 8 degree difference from ambient. Whereas -20c imaging is still excellent with fantastic noise control.

8 position filter wheel is handy. However installing filters is already a breeze and easy with 583. More the better though.

Electronic filter changing is fast! and doesnt require any prior calibration.

CCD chamber is completely isolated, filled with argon and good for 3years of use before refilling needs to be considered. No concerns needed when installing/removing filters.

4x4 or 3x3 binning for frame focusing with reasonable times. 15-20sec download times at 1x1/2x2 when framing/focusing is too annoying. 683 helps address this.


Very impressed with my 583WSG. Will be hard to let go.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks guys for the feed back. Plenty of great suggestions on what to include. I will take care of that in the next couple of days and give you a chance to look it over.

[pvelez]

Paul

a further point. With my RC8 and the acrylic disk, it can be tricky getting a suitable guide star in sparse fields. Its really not an issue with guiding - rather its calibrating that is the problem. For some reason, Maxim needs a brighter star to calibrate properly - when that is done, it is happy with a dim star to guide on. So I usually calibrate on a bright cluster with plenty of options and then slew to my target.

That said, it might be pilot error. It often is sadly. At least the pilot is finding new errors to make :)

I'm very happy with mine and would buy another in a heartbeat

Pete

[Paul Haese]

Amendments made as suggested guys.:)

Peter, I am not sure why that would be the case. I did not find that with the spacer. Nor do I have any trouble with calibration, mind you the fields I have calibrated on have lots of bright stars.:shrug: